ESL Cologne 2014 Day 2 Results

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After a great first game at ESL Cologne 2014 we were treated to yet more fantastic Counter-Strike today as the second group stage got underway to determine which 4 additional teams would be going home. The winners of today’s games go through to the playoffs in day 3 which will no doubt be great entertainment. So lets get straight into today’s results!

Group A:

Team 1

Team 2

Result

Map

Winners

NiP

Epsilon

16-6

cobble

Losers

NiP

HR

16-11

overpass

The opening game of day 2 would pit NiP against the French of Epsilon and the battleground would be Cobblestone. It is unclear how much time the swedes had to put into practice on the new maps but it obviously wasn’t enough as they were unable to stop the French powerhouse as Shoxilon ran away with the game 16-6 and were top seed of Group A with a comfortable pass to the playoffs.

This put NiP against Hellraisers who have been absent for quite a while in the run up to this tournament, skipping Gfinity to focus on their bootcamp. Unfortunately it didn’t work out the way they planned as NiP beat them in a slightly closer match than the first, 16-11 on Overpass, forcing the CIS giants out of the event much sooner than they would have hoped.

Group B:

Team 1

Team 2

Result

Map

Winners

LDLC

Na’Vi

16-12

inferno

Losers

Na’Vi

CPH

19-17

dust2

Group B saw much closer games with LDLC taking on Na’Vi after coming out top of the group in day 1 and they would come out first today aswell after a 16-12 win on inferno. Na’Vi would be forced to play the underdogs of CPH Wolves and the map would be dust2. This would prove to be one of the best games of the day when the CIS mix would force overtime as the Danes were unable to close out the game. It would be Na’Vi that came out on top after the wolves only gained 1 round in the overtime to Na’Vi’s 4, sending the Danes home and putting them through to the playoffs against fnatic in the opening game of day 3.

Group C:

Team 1

Team 2

Result

Map

Winners

Virtus.Pro

fnatic

16-19

overpass

Losers

Virtus.Pro

iBP

16-2

cache

Some interesting games aswell in Group C day 2 as the polish champions Virtus.Pro would face off against fnatic on Overpass. This would be another overtime game as the poles were unable to close the game out and insisted on committing almost every round to the A bombsite on their terrorist rounds despite fnatic having a solid hold. In the swedes terrorist round, a full yolo push headed by JW would completely catch Neo offguard and give uncontested entry to the B bombsite. VP would not answer back with a round of the own for the remainder of the game, ending it on 19-16 and putting VP into a decider match against iBUYPOWER.

In a complete change of tune, Virtus.Pro would completely decimate the Americans on de_cache; clearly demonstrating their ability to play on established maps. iBUYPOWER would only clinch 2 rounds in the entire game, putting the poles through with fnatic and ending Steel & co’s run at EMS Cologne.

Group D:

Team 1

Team 2

Result

Map

Winners

Cloud9

dignitas

16-14

mirage

Losers

Titan

dignitas

1-16

nuke

Group D day 2 would see somewhat of an upset in the Cloud9 vs Dignitas game as Cloud9 would continue their solid play seen against Titan resulting in a 16-14 victory over the Danish powerhouse. A perfect triple from Dupreeh would not be enough to stop an incredible 2v4 retake from Hiko and Sean Gares to take match point and that would be the nail in the coffin as the Danes were unable to put together a strong enough buy to answer back for overtime, knocking them into the decider match against Titan.

In similar fashion to VP taking their anger out on the Americans, Dignitas would take their anger out on the French. Nobody would have expected such a one-sided match however as FeTiSH and his troops absolutely humiliated Titan in a 16-1 stompathon on de_nuke. Starting as the more favored CT’s, dignitas took the pistol round and secured the following 2. As soon as Titan made their first buy, putting an AWP in the hands of KennyS it was instantly denied by FeTiSH with a beautiful flick-shot outside, leaving Titan with fewer options. They would only claim 1 more round in the entire game before exiting the tournament.

Predictions for Day 3

Here are my predictions for the playoff matches to decide the final 4 teams of the event. All of these matchups will be BO3 and I have included their estimated start times in BST.

fnatic vs. Na’Vi 9:00

Na’Vi have been fairly unpredictable lately, losing to teams they shouldn’t or at least having close games that they should be able to close out fairly easily (overtime with CPH Wolves who are a new team, losing 12-16 to LDLC). The new fnatic lineup despite not having much time together have proven to be a strong team, possibly stronger than ever with the addition of olofm and krimz. I expect fnatic’s raw skill to prove too much for Na’Vi, and they take this series 2-0.

Epsilon vs. Dignitas 12:00

Epsilon have proven they can compete with the best, crushing Hellraisers 16-1 in their opening game, and beating NiP comfortably today 16-7. This will be one of the best matchups of the tournament and i expect it to be a close 2-1 for Dignitas.

LDLC vs. Virtus.Pro 14:30

LDLC have also proven like their friends in Shoxilon that they can compete with the top 8 teams in the world. With comfortable victory over London Conspiracy in their opening game and a 16-12 win over Na’Vi they are in good form this event. They have also beaten Virtus.Pro previously at SLTV X and in FACEIT Spring League. I expect this to be a very tense 2-1 surprise series in favor of LDLC.

Cloud9 vs. NiP 17:30

Definitely a match to watch, if not just to see whether NiP can stay in the tournament or exit one for the first time ever before reaching the playoffs. This will certainly be a difficult game for the Swedes coming in with only a couple of weeks maximum practice both in general and on the new maps; not to mention the fact that Cloud9 beat NiP in a best of 3 previously when they were under the Complexity banner at ESEA finals. I expect this to be a difficult matchup for NiP and we could see a straight 2-0 in favor of the Americans unless the star players of the latter team really turn up to play.

Be sure to tune in to all the action taking place in the ESL One Cologne CS:GO Championships between 10am and 8pm BST by heading over to Twitch.tv/esltv_cs or by watching the games in your CS:GO Watch tab. (You can also stay on the ESL TV twitch to watch rebroadcasts after regular match hours if you miss anything.)

And remember to stay tuned to Baconcape as we bring you all the latest news and event coverage over this action-packed weekend of CS.